As we inch slowly towards an exit from what seems to be a never-ending series of lockdowns and restrictions, we have all been given an opportunity to re-examine the way we live our lives. In some cases we have seen our priorities shift and mutate as the months have gone by. For some it means that working from home may become the norm rather than the exception. For others, it may be that the extended furlough or even demise of our employer has prompted a new direction, perhaps not sought or desired, but maybe now embraced. It has certainly been quite a roller-coaster ride as we come up on the anniversary of the first lockdown on 23 March (in the UK). I for one, have done some serious reflecting on what I want and what I need from life from this point onward. Having spent most of my career away from home it certainly has been a revelation to me to be home 24/7 since the first lockdown started. This has given me a chance to re-evaluate what I’m looking for in the way I want to be living. I doubt that I’m the only one.
It’s been quite a revelation to be here for a whole, unbroken year. I’ve managed get a lot (but not all) of the backlog of “honey-do” items sorted, indulged my fantasy of growing my own veggies and, of course, had scads more time to devote to drawing and painting than I’ve ever had before. This has allowed me to explore new media, expand the variety of subjects and concentrate on (hopefully) improving what skills I have. It occurs to me that many others have also found the time to devote to honing their artistic skills, if the plethora of online courses, talks and lectures that now exist is anything to go by. In that respect, the internet has been a Godsend.
These online offerings have proved to be quite enjoyable. Those of you who have remained gainfully employed during the last year have not, perhaps, had time or opportunity to indulge, but those of us with unexpected time on our hands have had a chance give our curiosity a free rein. I’ve seen two online talks recently that dealt with the artists and art of Polperro, Cornwall. New to me. I have some familiarity with the Newlyn painters, but was blissfully unaware of the fantastic painting going on just around the corner, so to speak.
Closer to home, I have several works in progress:
The first is an oil painting depicting the relief of the Special Forces Camp at Dak Seang, RVN. On 1 April 1970 a strong NVA force besieged the camp and an airdrop of ammunition and supplies was made by three C-7s during the afternoon. The NVA had positioned several anti-aircraft guns along air corridors that transport aircraft might use during their airdrops. Some ground fire was encountered on these first missions and one aircraft received two hits that did little damage. NVA pressure on the camp continued throughout the night and on the following morning two more Caribous set off from Pleiku to make another drop. Ground fire proved to be heavier on the second day and one of the aircraft was hit and crashed. Despite the obvious danger a further 11 airdrops were made by C-7 crews on the 2nd with three aircraft being damaged by ground fire. The airdrops continued despite intense ground fire that eventually claimed three C-7s and damaged many more. However, by 13 April the situation at Dak Seang had improved enough for the air resupply mission to be largely taken over by US Army helicopters although C-7s made a small number of night airdrops towards the end of April. On 11 May C-7s resumed landing at the camp’s airstrip. Between 1 April and 1 May the C-7s of the 483rd TAW had flown 127 sorties to Dak Seang dropping 240 tons of supplies, 90 per cent of which was recovered by the defenders from within the perimeter of the 200 feet-square camp itself.
Although I had left Vietnam by that time, my squadron (457th TAS) was involved in the action. One of my former roommates was on his second tour and largely responsible for planning the night drops that began after the loss of 3 Caribous during the daylight action. The painting will depict the drops of 1 April 1970, which kicked off the relief action. I’m planning another one depicting the night drops.
Relief of Dak Seang, 1970.
Another work in progress is barely past the thinking about it stage. I’ve been asked to do a painting for the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum depicting the preparations for Group Captain Edward (Teddy) Donaldson’s speed record attempt of 7 September 1946. Flying from Tangmere, he established a new official world record of 615.78 mph in a Gloster Meteor F.4 off the coast near Littlehampton. The actual aircraft is currently on display at the museum, and we hope we’ll be able to open to the public again later this spring. Fingers crossed. Get your jab and wear your mask.
Compositional study for projected painting for Tangmere Military Aviation Museum.
Here are some links to art stuff that you might find interesting in the next week:
Stella Grace Lyons has all of her talks and lectures here: https://stellagracelyons.co.uk/arthistory/lectures/
Phil Jackson AGAvA has some nice quick sketching videos of various subjects: https://www.facebook.com/phil.jackson.3591/videos/3727203994030888
Charles Thompson GAvA, ASAA has a great two part tutorial on painting 5 aircraft in formation on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFvkZeGwUSI
Darryl Legg also has some Aviation art videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7KTSzoLlnqFKmC6tUsdFpg
Cathy Sik has some YouTube Videos of her aviation painting as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhI7giOwFfQ
Until next week, Enjoy and keep thinking art.